Serial Experiments Lain
Today's review is "Serial Experiments Lain". Look. Im going to keep this nice and short. +6/-0.
I felt like I was watching Paranoia Agent, Ghost in the Shell, and Akira all at the exact same friggin time. There is no sex in this anime, there is no scantily clad women, there is no violence, and there are no robots. It simply is as it is, a genius psychological and philosophical ride that never stops (you know... until it ends). If this anime was going to loose points (its not, but if it were), it would be that things dont start making sense until the 6-7th episode. The trick is to treat almost everything as if it was a hullicination, and put it all together towards the end. If you try to get it to make sense before the 6th or 7th your going to drive yourself mad. Alot of people may quit watching this (I know Nick did) after the first disc. And well thats your perogative, but you will be missing out on one of the greatest animes ever created. If your incapable of non-linear thinking, just stop right here and go rent Dragon Ball Z and Naruto, youll be a much happier person for it.
Another thing (now known as anothering) I recommend watching this in English. Not just because Ruby Marlowe is the voice of Lain (and if you cant tell how much I love her voice, you havent been paying attention), this anime is confusing and complex to say the least. If you attempt to try and keep up WHILE reading all of the dialog, your going to be in a world of hurt. But I know some of you (cough Amy) would rather watch in Japanese anyways, just dont say I didnt warn you.
Which reminds me. This message is specifically for Amy. From the books that youve said you like, and the Anime's youve said you watched. You need to see this anime. Theres a torrent for it on www.isohunt.com with a fair number of seeds. Im begging you to go DL this if you havent seen it already.
In other Anime news. I spent 14 hours yesterday watching Naruto (I think im gonna read the manga so I can get started on Naruto 2 (after the 2.5 year time jump) since it wont be in the anime for a while). From 125 to 180. Im so exhausted I hurt, and I had a 10 hour Naruto dream last night. I think Im done with Naruto for a while... well for a little... ok, fine, probably not very long at all. Only like 27 more episodes till Im fully caught up anyways.
I got "Ocean Waves" ("I can hear the sea" is the correct translation of the title from Japanese) in the mail yesterday. Its the last Studio Ghibli film that I have yet to see. Its hard to come by because it was a TV only movie in Japan in 97. I havent watched much, i just watned to see if I could get it to work since the regional code was a bit off, but the quality is pretty good, the only thing I noticed so far is that the subtitles are lagged by a second or so. Not to bad, just a little annoying. Really not a big deal. So Ill try to have that reviewed in a few days. At the moment, the next on my list is Perfect Blue, because 13 episodes of Lain wasnt enough Ruby for me. Also to be watched is Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid. And on Wed. I should get via netflix Ai Yori Aoshi, which I tend to think about as something similiar to Love Hina, theres like 8 discs total around 36 episodes. Should be fun.
Also. Netflix is STILL my bitch. If I get this high paying job I want, Im uping my netflix to anywhere from 5-8 discs at a time, maybe. Well see. but to be honest, 3 discs at a time just isnt enough.
Well, thats all. I think I need a nap to get my mind in order after Lain. Seriously, go watch it. Now. Its IMPERATIVEL.
One last thing. Heres an Artist spot light. Akeboshi is a Japanese artist that debuted in 2003, he studied in London and you can certainly tell from his music. Its westernized but still very Japanese. Kind of like reading Haruki Murakami for me, Japanese but still relateable. Anyways. Some stuff you might have heard, Wind and Yellow Moon are the first and thirteenth ending songs for Naruto. Yellow Moon is my favorite of his songs. Also in some of his songs I swear to god I hear a Celtic backsong.
Ok, nice and short.... That is all. End Transmission... Ghrrktt.
I felt like I was watching Paranoia Agent, Ghost in the Shell, and Akira all at the exact same friggin time. There is no sex in this anime, there is no scantily clad women, there is no violence, and there are no robots. It simply is as it is, a genius psychological and philosophical ride that never stops (you know... until it ends). If this anime was going to loose points (its not, but if it were), it would be that things dont start making sense until the 6-7th episode. The trick is to treat almost everything as if it was a hullicination, and put it all together towards the end. If you try to get it to make sense before the 6th or 7th your going to drive yourself mad. Alot of people may quit watching this (I know Nick did) after the first disc. And well thats your perogative, but you will be missing out on one of the greatest animes ever created. If your incapable of non-linear thinking, just stop right here and go rent Dragon Ball Z and Naruto, youll be a much happier person for it.
Another thing (now known as anothering) I recommend watching this in English. Not just because Ruby Marlowe is the voice of Lain (and if you cant tell how much I love her voice, you havent been paying attention), this anime is confusing and complex to say the least. If you attempt to try and keep up WHILE reading all of the dialog, your going to be in a world of hurt. But I know some of you (cough Amy) would rather watch in Japanese anyways, just dont say I didnt warn you.
Which reminds me. This message is specifically for Amy. From the books that youve said you like, and the Anime's youve said you watched. You need to see this anime. Theres a torrent for it on www.isohunt.com with a fair number of seeds. Im begging you to go DL this if you havent seen it already.
In other Anime news. I spent 14 hours yesterday watching Naruto (I think im gonna read the manga so I can get started on Naruto 2 (after the 2.5 year time jump) since it wont be in the anime for a while). From 125 to 180. Im so exhausted I hurt, and I had a 10 hour Naruto dream last night. I think Im done with Naruto for a while... well for a little... ok, fine, probably not very long at all. Only like 27 more episodes till Im fully caught up anyways.
I got "Ocean Waves" ("I can hear the sea" is the correct translation of the title from Japanese) in the mail yesterday. Its the last Studio Ghibli film that I have yet to see. Its hard to come by because it was a TV only movie in Japan in 97. I havent watched much, i just watned to see if I could get it to work since the regional code was a bit off, but the quality is pretty good, the only thing I noticed so far is that the subtitles are lagged by a second or so. Not to bad, just a little annoying. Really not a big deal. So Ill try to have that reviewed in a few days. At the moment, the next on my list is Perfect Blue, because 13 episodes of Lain wasnt enough Ruby for me. Also to be watched is Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid. And on Wed. I should get via netflix Ai Yori Aoshi, which I tend to think about as something similiar to Love Hina, theres like 8 discs total around 36 episodes. Should be fun.
Also. Netflix is STILL my bitch. If I get this high paying job I want, Im uping my netflix to anywhere from 5-8 discs at a time, maybe. Well see. but to be honest, 3 discs at a time just isnt enough.
Well, thats all. I think I need a nap to get my mind in order after Lain. Seriously, go watch it. Now. Its IMPERATIVEL.
One last thing. Heres an Artist spot light. Akeboshi is a Japanese artist that debuted in 2003, he studied in London and you can certainly tell from his music. Its westernized but still very Japanese. Kind of like reading Haruki Murakami for me, Japanese but still relateable. Anyways. Some stuff you might have heard, Wind and Yellow Moon are the first and thirteenth ending songs for Naruto. Yellow Moon is my favorite of his songs. Also in some of his songs I swear to god I hear a Celtic backsong.
Ok, nice and short.... That is all. End Transmission... Ghrrktt.